Fantasy A Witch's Familiar (RIP)

[That Lass Over There]

With the Dragon's abrupt disappearance, what little hints of emotion Kuroi had displayed disappeared without trace. She stared where it had been moments before for a little while before accepting that it had gone without a trace - and that with Xeria still limp in her arms, it was unlikely to have been some form of hallucination... For a second she did wonder if that last sentence was a reference to her introduction to this world, where she was quite ready to fight a slew of assumably staff if they turned out hostile to Xeria in her nonexistent knowledge of the tense situation. She found that dubious though, since Xeria was in the process of becoming a student at that point and Kuroi only intended to act in defense of her.

Speaking of the fledgling witch, "Xeria." Kuroi's hands pushed the girl's shoulders a bit to try and nudge her out of whatever stupor she had fallen in to, and after limited success she placed one of her hands - still shaking, and blazing hot to the touch - on Xeria's forehead. "Are you okay?" Kuroi's speech was slightly staggered, ragged, but her breathing was calming down into its typical rhythm now that things had passed.

 

[Aron the Aron]

Speaking of the fledgling witch, "Xeria." Kuroi's hands pushed the girl's shoulders a bit to try and nudge her out of whatever stupor she had fallen in to, and after limited success she placed one of her hands - still shaking, and blazing hot to the touch - on Xeria's forehead. "Are you okay?" Kuroi's speech was slightly staggered, ragged, but her breathing was calming down into its typical rhythm now that things had passed.

"...Mmmrgh..."

Unpleasant wouldn't be a terrible place to begin describing what Xeria felt as she slowly came back to the land of the living. The sensation of Kuroi's unusually warm hand hadn't registered in her head yet when she blearily opened her eyes, the head-splitting migraine wreaking havoc on all of her senses and thoughts. She barely remembered what happened before she had collapsed, how the Dragon started to speak, and the debilitating pain that followed.

It was as if the very sound of the language had tried to tear her apart from the inside-out, like holding a piece of kindling near an open fire. The Draconic language was constantly used by mortal races as a means of condensing more complex feats of magic into more manageable states, and Xeria hadn't experienced anything when she used the language herself. But when the Dragon spoke the very same language that the Humans borrowed, it had a mind-grating effect.

"Ow... Did the- the Dragon do anything? I... oww..." Her groans only intensified as she became more and more cognizant of her surroundings, moving Kuroi's hand from her forehead to her temple to try an alleviate some of the dull pain lingering in her head. "What did it do anyways...?"

 

[That Lass Over There]

"Ow... Did the- the Dragon do anything? I... oww..." Her groans only intensified as she became more and more cognizant of her surroundings, moving Kuroi's hand from her forehead to her temple to try an alleviate some of the dull pain lingering in her head. "What did it do anyways...?"

Kuroi's other hand lifted up to match the one that had been placed on Xeria's temple, applying hot pressure and slowly moving her hands in a mild massage without being told. She gave a moment, both to allow Xeria some time with the massage that would hopefully alleviate whatever headache she has and to give Kuroi herself some time to calm down and think. Her body was still having those barely perceptible, violent shakes, and it was making it difficult to give the standard of care she wanted to Xeria. "I was hoping you could tell me." Forget everything else - Xeria collapsing behind her had stopped her heart. She dared not think about the possibility in the moment, but she was entirely unfamiliar with the capabilities of individuals in this strange... place. She was still deciding whether her understanding of the Dragon's words was correct. It could have been a mistranslation, assuming that the Dragon had been going through the same translation process as every other conversation thus far - she understandably wasn't able to lip-read and find out.

But, Xeria's collapse had been numbing. She hadn't dared to check if the witch was breathing, even though the fear had been there. "All it did was speak. It seems like it came to... Investigate me?" She distracted herself by expanding on her answer, giving a more useful answer. She felt a more conscious shiver run through her body when she realized she was the reason this event had transpired, but she suppressed it and kept massaging Xeria's temples while expanding her answer, careful not to say anything she wasn't sure of. "It called me an 'Outworlder', and after speaking something about my being alive in spite of death inside me it inquired about who I was tied to 'whence I came'. It said something about not being able to see beyond the veil of this realm when I asked about Tsubasa in response. After warning me not to harm anyone of the Academy, it disappeared." Trying not to leave anything out, Kuroi did her best to recall the Dragon's speech she had barely heard over the pounding of her blood rushing through her body.

 

[Aron the Aron]

Kuroi's other hand lifted up to match the one that had been placed on Xeria's temple, applying hot pressure and slowly moving her hands in a mild massage without being told. She gave a moment, both to allow Xeria some time with the massage that would hopefully alleviate whatever headache she has and to give Kuroi herself some time to calm down and think. Her body was still having those barely perceptible, violent shakes, and it was making it difficult to give the standard of care she wanted to Xeria. "I was hoping you could tell me."

Having something warm press against a pounding headache worked wonders in mitigating Xeria's migraine, whose dizziness slowly gave way to lethargic comfort. "Mmmm~ I dunno what I can say; I've never seen a Dragon in-person up until just now..." With Xeria recovering quicker, she was lucid enough to properly listen when Kuroi began detailing the encounter with the Dragon.

"All it did was speak. It seems like it came to... Investigate me?" She distracted herself by expanding on her answer, giving a more useful answer. She felt a more conscious shiver run through her body when she realized she was the reason this event had transpired, but she suppressed it and kept massaging Xeria's temples while expanding her answer, careful not to say anything she wasn't sure of. "It called me an 'Outworlder', and after speaking something about my being alive in spite of death inside me it inquired about who I was tied to 'whence I came'. It said something about not being able to see beyond the veil of this realm when I asked about Tsubasa in response. After warning me not to harm anyone of the Academy, it disappeared." Trying not to leave anything out, Kuroi did her best to recall the Dragon's speech she had barely heard over the pounding of her blood rushing through her body.

"Hmm..." Xeria had little to base any of her thoughts from, given that Kuroi's first experience with a genuine Dragon was also Xeria's first time physically seeing one. She did know far more about them than her companion however, so she shared what little she knew.

"Dragons are... well, they're like Demigods in a way. All of them are powerful beyond imagination, smarter than any human who's ever lived, and live and breathe ether. The overwhelming majority of what we know, learned, and been taught about magic overwhelmingly came from them; some of us even believe that they're living aspects of nature." With Kuroi's hands still pressed firmly to her head, Xeria reached up with a free hand to fix her wide-brimmed hat. "Maybe the Dragon could sense something wrong about you? You did come from another world, so maybe the Dragon sensed magic from your world?"

 

[That Lass Over There]

"Maybe the Dragon could sense something wrong about you? You did come from another world, so maybe the Dragon sensed magic from your world?"

The hot pressure massaging Xeria's temples relaxed as the caring, practiced motions of Kuroi came to an end after the fledgling witch's words. "... So it wasn't a mistranslation?" Kuroi's voice was quieter than normal and a bit disturbed, breathy, possibly rare emotion leaking into her voice as she processed Xeria's words. Her hands fell off the sides of Xeria's head, her right hand falling first to her side then to her back to support the weight of both of them in the odd leaning position they had ended up in with Xeria on top. "I don't remember you ever saying... anything, about other worlds..." Kuroi's body, which had been supporting them both, fell back slightly under all the weight. "The Dragon... Didn't seem very optimistic, about my chances of going back. In that case."

Remembering that she had finally been confirmed dead, as originally suspected, she added, "Or... Looking back. Whatever might've been possible."

In an effort to secure their position that was slowly sliding down, Kuroi attempted to push herself up, finding a modicum of success as she ended a few more degrees perpendicular to the floor, and her face buried in Xeria's mane of hair with a lack of mindfulness. Her burning hot breath tickled the skin as she made every effort to support them both, the parts of her body not pinned down by Xeria shaking under the effort.

 

[Aron the Aron]

Her hands fell off the sides of Xeria's head, her right hand falling first to her side then to her back to support the weight of both of them in the odd leaning position they had ended up in with Xeria on top. "I don't remember you ever saying... anything, about other worlds..." Kuroi's body, which had been supporting them both, fell back slightly under all the weight. "The Dragon... Didn't seem very optimistic, about my chances of going back. In that case."

"If a living piece of nigh-omnipotent ancient history says anything then I'm inclined to believe it. They're all-powerful creatures, borderline gods; I wouldn't be surprised if they knew everything about you... Besides, I hav- hev... eh.... I have my own theories..." Was Kuroi always this warm? Xeria wasn't complaining if her summon was always like that; she made a great pillow to sleep on and rest her head against.

In an effort to secure their position that was slowly sliding down, Kuroi attempted to push herself up, finding a modicum of success as she ended a few more degrees perpendicular to the floor, and her face buried in Xeria's mane of hair with a lack of mindfulness. Her burning hot breath tickled the skin as she made every effort to support them both, the parts of her body not pinned down by Xeria shaking under the effort.

For someone who was supposed to be lightweight, Xeria was proving tricky to dislodge when she began snaking her arms around Kuroi like a body pillow. "Y'know, I found it weird... Sil couldn't make heads or tails of whatever you described back in her smithy, and she's seen just about everything! She's even seen stuff from the Tierreich! I thought bringing you there would help figure me out where you came from..." Xeria was already descending into babbling as she snuggled into Kuroi, content to just enjoy the warmth.

"And then there's all those funny words and names you say! I first thought you were some Demi-Human Homunculus, but then I thought it was strange and un-monsterlike that you kept talking about being dead and memory fragments..." Those were the last coherent sentences Xeria could get out before she devolved into jumbled gibberish. She did seem to take to Kuroi breathing against her skin well though; if the increasingly incessant snuggling was anything to go by...

 

[That Lass Over There]

With Xeria melting into Kuroi, oblivious as usual to any signs, the situation they were stuck in held for some minutes as Xeria clung like a leech to the warmth of her summon. Somewhere in the back of her hazy mind, Kuroi recalled a time a few years ago, when she didn't have someone beside her, and lightly sighed. Slowly, she lowered her shaking body backwards, laying them down and giving up to the ground so that she could conserve her energy. "... So what now?" It seems now this conclusion was what they were running with, on authority of a sort of deity and some unexplainable incongruencies. It wasn't as though Kuroi hadn't had a similar feeling, but it was difficult.

That aside, while Xeria seemed to be saying that she had suspected as much even before the encounter, Kuroi had no idea if this changed what they were needing to do. The Dragon had offered the wisdom of the academy, its books and personnel, but Kuroi had no idea how to make use of either of those things, or where to start. Xeria had been the one with the idea of where to look, and that hopefully was still the case. Ultimately, she just wanted to be told what to do so she could stop driving herself to think for the moment.

 

[Aron the Aron]

"... So what now?"

With a dramatic sigh, Xeria rolled off of Kuroi and flopped onto the floor with the elegance of a fish out of water. "Fiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnneee, I'll stop. I just wanted a nice nap... and you're really warm and cozy..." Xeria was a lot of things, dumb being one of them, but she knew when someone was looking for an out. She had it happen way too many times with the few Witches and Wizards who were willing to interact with her...

That still wasn't enough for her to get back onto her feet, instead opting to crawl back to where she had been with orbiting books and tomes. One half-hearted wiggle of her finger sent the books scattered on the floor into a limp orbit around her, but Xeria was not as attentive when she resumed her scan of the many texts. That much was obvious when her concentration faltered every few seconds, causing one or two books to drop like rocks and snap her back to full-attention by the loud thumps. Still, she was making progress at least, enough that Kuroi could turn her attention somewhere else in the meantime.

"Hmm... No, Kuroi definitely isn't like a Bacsojin... what about... No, not that one either... Transmutation theories aren't helping..."

(free pass for Kuroi to wander)

 

[That Lass Over There]

While not entirely her intention, Kuroi was glad to have the weight of Xeria off of her. Ordinarily, she wouldn't have minded, but today was hardly turning out to be ordinary circumstance. With the fledgling witch returned to her mysteriously floating books (though it seemed she was faltering with whatever enchantment enabled to the trick as they occasionally dropped to the ground with the most dreadfully loud impact sounds) Kuroi was left to herself, still laying on the floor. That wouldn't do, so Kuroi propped herself back up into a sitting posture - a bit easier without a human-sized leech - and moved herself over to lean against a nearby bookshelf, suppressing a shiver as she folded her hands on her lap.

Torn between her duty to watch over Xeria and the growing burden of her own body, Kuroi shut her eyes, deciding that she would be able to wake up at a moment's notice if anything important was to happen. After one sudden appearance of an ancient monster, kami or no, Kuroi could no longer trust the supposed safety of this place... Not like she ever had, or that the Dragon in question had meant them harm, but the trust of a human being was a fickle thing and didn't care for these platitudes.

Without her katana and dressed in foreign attire, Kuroi's limp body pressed against the shelf with her limbs neatly folded was reminiscent of a doll put up after play, though the very light flush to her face at the moment made her look arguably more alive than normal.

 

[Aron the Aron]

Even in her half-focused state, Xeria could feel the undertones of frustration starting to creep in as she put away another book with a limp flick of her finger. It was a travesty that there was so much documentation on the array of creatures that came out of Rituals like the one she had used and have a complete lack of information on the reverse. It was like nobody ever thought of the idea of returning a dangerous creature back to wherever it came from, which was just silly to the Witch. Surely there was something that could help!

The grand compendium of spells? Already searched; nothing.

The Monster Encyclopedia? Nothing but dry text on what she didn't need to know.

Make Him Fall for You in a Fortnight- where'd Xeria get that from? Tossed away.

A Song of Ice and Fire- no, that was just a novella some student put there by accident.

Book after book after book, Xeria was met with dead end upon dead end. The information void was starting to border on levels of "grand conspiracy" which was a new experience for the Witch. Never before had she been left stumped whenever she searched the library, and yet when it was the one time she wasn't simply sating curiosity or studying materials for a lecture lab, she doesn't find anything useful.

"How to Raise your IQ by eating intelligent chi- OH COME ON!" With an infuriated cry, Xeria let the book slam down on the cold carpeted floor, kicking up bits of old fluff and probably killing a hapless spider as she pouted and bored holes into the bookshelf with her eyes.

"Stupid, stupid- how is there nothing!? NOTHING! It's like nobody thought of this until I did!"

 

[That Lass Over There]

... It was apparently a little difficult to catch some rest while on a hair trigger, around a girl that kept tossing, dropping, and swinging books like a kid with a temper tantrum. Not to mention the continuing accidental drops of literature and records by Xeria's haphazard control. And then, the shouting... Kuroi considered tuning out the noises to sleep through them, but it simply wasn't worth the chance in her mind that she might miss something. Things happen in a matter of seconds, and she would never let such inattentiveness get the better of her again. After realizing that her pursuit of rest was futile, she put a hand on the shelf behind her, using the surface to help her stand up - unused to doing so, however, her shaking body crumpled under her and she fell against the bookshelf in an unusually clumsy manner, knocking a few precariously-placed books off their shelves.

One from particularly high up fell right above where Xeria sat, landing flat side on the fledgling witch's head - hampered a bit in its fall by the exaggerated bulk of her hat that it had to get through to reach her skull. Nonetheless it was a very solid thunk that the impact made before sliding off to the floor beside Xeria, and Kuroi immediately stumbled her way over to the white-haired girl sprawled out on the ground. "Xeria? Are you okay?"

 

[Aron the Aron]

"Ow..."

Xeria was very much not daijoubu. Even if she was a "thick-skulled genius" as many of her fellows would claim and had her comically-sized hat as protection, having a book the size of her head fall on her would hurt a lot. So it shouldn't have come as a surprise when Xeria responded to Kuroi's silly question with a light glare that showed off the massive bruise on her forehead. She was very glad that they were alone in their part of the library; she could already hear the insults of how hollow her head sounded when the book hit her.

"Stupid book has to fall on me of all places..." She sourly grumbled, picking up the offending piece and smoothing out the bent pages from the impact. Thankfully, it didn't seem like the book was damaged by the fall, so Xeria could easily put the book back after she unfolded whatever pages got wrinkled from the fa-

... the book was entirely in Draconic.

"I don't recognize this writing at all." She said out of nowhere, now interested when she began flipping through the pages in earnest. So interested she was, that the books she had floating around all fell to the ground in a cacophony of overly-loud thunks. "Yeah, it's all Draconic, and Old Draconic at that; all the punctuation and grammar is different." And as if showing her would somehow help, Xeria turned around the oversized book and showed Kuroi the squiggly hell that was apparently Dragon language.

 

[That Lass Over There]

The glare seemed to go unnoticed, though the bruise didn't as Kuroi's eyes focused on Xeria's reddened forehead. At least there was some actual color to the girl's face now? Lacking self-awareness that the same could be said about her with her face a bit flushed at the moment, Kuroi shuffled closer to observe Xeria's injury but ended up looking at the back of her head as Xeria suddenly buried her face in the very thing that had assaulted it five seconds earlier. She grew even more confused when Xeria said that she didn't understand the book, but kept flipping the pages anyways as if she expected that to change if she read enough gibberish.

After a few moments of this, Xeria's unreliable concentration on keeping the books around her afloat dropped completely, one landing on Kuroi's shoe - failing to provoke any reaction out of the blank-faced summon, except a momentary glance downwards as she forgot that she could not see through her current footwear to assess the damage. Another few moments and page turns, and the book was now shoved in Kuroi's face as though she was supposed to understand writing that the resident apprentice witch hadn't. And Kuroi, like anyone suddenly having something shoved in their face and told to look, studied the page for more time than was deserved before shaking her head. "... I haven't been able to read anything in this library. Nothing has translated." Now that she thought about it, she may have forgotten to tell Xeria as much; it hadn't seemed too important, since she was the one that would be making sense of the text either way.

 

[Aron the Aron]

"... I haven't been able to read anything in this library. Nothing has translated." Now that she thought about it, she may have forgotten to tell Xeria as much; it hadn't seemed too important, since she was the one that would be making sense of the text either way.

"Eh?" If Kuroi squinted, she probably could've seen the figurative question mark floating above Xeria's head. "Wait, you can't read anything in here? How does that work? We can understand each other talking just fine, and you didn't have any problems talking to people like Sil yesterday." Xeria scratched her head before getting and idea. "We need to go back to my room; I have an ink pot and feather there you can use to show what your writing looks like. I'm taking this book with me so I can figure out what this thing says."

---

The King's Academy - Xeria's Room
Third day of Serpent, 493 NE
​

---

It was in Xeria's room that Xeria realized that she didn't know if Kuroi was at all familiar with dip pens. With Kuroi seated at her drafting desk, Xeria had shuffled some old blank parchment onto the desk that Kuroi could use, but the dip pen had been... interesting to explain. It certainly came off as odd when Kuroi explained that she was more used to seeing brushes for writing, which elicited more than a few strange images in her head.

"... Yeah you just gently dab the metal tip inside the pot before you start writing." Xeria had already demonstrated by writing some nonsensical sentences, going through the motions with a practiced ease like a writer. It was a more fascinating feat given how her gloves were so inexplicably long at the fingers, yet the Witch managed to write without them smudging or otherwise marring her writing...

"So uh... you wanna try? I want to at least see what your written language is like."

 

[That Lass Over There]

More than anything, Kuroi was impressed with how Xeria's gloves had somehow managed to avoid stain, a display of curious skill on her part. She had already given up on understanding the principle behind the 'dip pen', curious how it seemed to hold more ink inside, without actually having to pour any in. The material that Xeria had pulled out to write on also was of interest, distinctly different to the rice paper that she remembered. A bit more rough in texture, but... It was difficult to say. Softer? Didn't seem like the right word, but there was a distinct difference in how it felt to the hand and its reaction to force. Kuroi didn't go out of her way to actually test, though, because Xeria was looking at her expectantly, and it was at this moment that Kuroi realized a startling difference between their circumstances growing up, and possibly further the education standards of their respective societies maintain.

To put it bluntly, Kuroi was a few steps short of illiterate. She had been learning, but a few years had been inadequate for Tsubasa to pass on much beyond some basics, especially since they had not been focusing on the education.

Taking the pen in her left hand - Tsu was left handed, and so taught her - Kuroi brought her hand to underneath the scribblings that Xeria had written minutes earlier and started pulling her hand down the page, carefully doing each stroke with attention to the pressure and direction as she had been taught - though, the effect of the pressure seemed to be less dramatic with this pen that Xeria had given her to work with.

黒西日山海木
い原本
　翼


As she wrote, she told Xeria what each column was - the nickname that she had chosen, Tsubasa's name, the name of her homeland, and a few kanji she remembered off the top of her head. She didn't write much, in part because not much more was coming to mind when suddenly put on the spot to write in a language she hasn't seen written in over a week, but she thought it gave Xeria a sufficient enough peek at what it was like. "Each kanji has its own meaning, sometimes more than one. Words are made of one or more kanji. There are a lot of kanji, and several can be hard to tell apart, which is why stroke order and thickness matter in writing - to make them more distinguishable. It was a bit hard to properly do so with the pen, though." She explained so after having made her small demonstration, showing the results to Xeria.

 

[Aron the Aron]

Taking the pen in her left hand - Tsu was left handed, and so taught her - Kuroi brought her hand to underneath the scribblings that Xeria had written minutes earlier and started pulling her hand down the page, carefully doing each stroke with attention to the pressure and direction as she had been taught - though, the effect of the pressure seemed to be less dramatic with this pen that Xeria had given her to work with.

黒西日山海木
い原本
　翼


As she wrote, she told Xeria what each column was - the nickname that she had chosen, Tsubasa's name, the name of her homeland, and a few kanji she remembered off the top of her head. She didn't write much, in part because not much more was coming to mind when suddenly put on the spot to write in a language she hasn't seen written in over a week, but she thought it gave Xeria a sufficient enough peek at what it was like. "Each kanji has its own meaning, sometimes more than one. Words are made of one or more kanji. There are a lot of kanji, and several can be hard to tell apart, which is why stroke order and thickness matter in writing - to make them more distinguishable. It was a bit hard to properly do so with the pen, though." She explained so after having made her small demonstration, showing the results to Xeria.

Xeria was captivated by the foreign language being written on her spare parchment. Despite Kuroi being barely literate, the way she emphasized the order and pressure of each line drew murmurs of curiosity out of the Witch. It was far removed from the Common Language that most of Ballad knew; writing seemed to take on an almost artistic form wherever Kuroi came from.

"I see, I see! So your writing system is largely logographic in nature, so you use characters to denote certain words! I imagine that the overall number of lines and their arrangement represent unique items that would be often mentioned, and that characters with similar forms parallel what they mean." The conclusion Xeria came to wasn't completely wrong, in fact she was likely correct in many ways, but it was clear she was trying to draw parallels to whatever languages she knew of. "The Common Language in Juno is mostly phonetic, which means we use combinations of characters to denote certain vocal sounds and tones. Combine characters to get phonetics, connect strings of phonetics and you get words... Well, most of the time anyways. The language borrows from so many different native languages that the phonetic rules constantly get broken..."

"Weird that you write your language top-to-bottom; I don't think I know of any language that does that..." Now with the dip pen back in her hand Xeria was ready to continue exploring Kuroi's language and bits of her history when she noticed something...

... Maybe Xeria should've pointed out that the metal nib of her pen was delicate and necessitated minimal pressure so as to not bend and wreck it...

"... ah. I'd better go to town later and get a new nib for this thing..."

 

[That Lass Over There]

"I see, I see! So your writing system is largely logographic in nature, so you use characters to denote certain words! I imagine that the overall number of lines and their arrangement represent unique items that would be often mentioned, and that characters with similar forms parallel what they mean." The conclusion Xeria came to wasn't completely wrong, in fact she was likely correct in many ways, but it was clear she was trying to draw parallels to whatever languages she knew of. "The Common Language in Juno is mostly phonetic, which means we use combinations of characters to denote certain vocal sounds and tones. Combine characters to get phonetics, connect strings of phonetics and you get words... Well, most of the time anyways. The language borrows from so many different native languages that the phonetic rules constantly get broken..."

"Weird that you write your language top-to-bottom; I don't think I know of any language that does that..."

"That... Sounds about right." Kuroi had a difficult time following Xeria's observations, but nodded along as she didn't hear anything immediately incorrect to her knowledge. "There's also a phonetic element to the writing in my language with hiragana -" She tapped the い to indicate one such symbol she had written, "- used to modify kanji or where there is no usable kanji that would make sense, for the most part... I think." Kuroi's eyebrows furrowed as she went over the things she had been taught, hoping that she wasn't making a mistake based on the fuzzy memories of her lessons. It made her happy to know there was something she could properly convey to Xeria, but that made it all the more upsetting that her knowledge was incomplete.

... Maybe Xeria should've pointed out that the metal nib of her pen was delicate and necessitated minimal pressure so as to not bend and wreck it... "... ah. I'd better go to town later and get a new nib for this thing..."

Kuroi looked at the pen, trying to understand what had gone wrong, eyelids dropping as she tried to see in detail the odd device. After drawing a little closer she saw the problem, and realized that whatever mechanism had facilitated the phenomenon of holding so much ink was likely broken by the bent tip. Realizing that the damage had been done with her mistaken attempts to use pressure to replicate the effects of a brush on the thickness of strokes, Kuroi's heel started bouncing on the floor before she bowed her head in apology, hands folded on her lap. "I'm very sorry, I wasn't careful enough..."

 

[Aron the Aron]

Kuroi looked at the pen, trying to understand what had gone wrong, eyelids dropping as she tried to see in detail the odd device. After drawing a little closer she saw the problem, and realized that whatever mechanism had facilitated the phenomenon of holding so much ink was likely broken by the bent tip. Realizing that the damage had been done with her mistaken attempts to use pressure to replicate the effects of a brush on the thickness of strokes, Kuroi's heel started bouncing on the floor before she bowed her head in apology, hands folded on her lap. "I'm very sorry, I wasn't careful enough..."

"It's okay; nibs are easy to replace! They're just bits of metal that do all the hard work holding and spreading ink out on parchment." Xeria carefully unscrewed the vaguely spade-shaped piece of metal, a feat considering her insane gloves, and held the bare metal up to get a better look at the damage. "Yeah, this one's not salvageable; the tines have split and bent too much so I can't write with it." She held it out for Kuroi to take a closer look, likely suspecting that the foreigner would be interested in the construct of such a small metal piece.

"Maybe I can get a new nib with a broad edge; those ones you can change the thickness of the stroke by changing the direction. Maybe with that kind of nib you can better replicate your logograms." Kuroi irrevocably damaging a part of her pen was going to cost a few coins and some time going out to town again, but maybe the two of them could get a little more out of the trip. Maybe some minor adventure before the year began?

"Come on, let's go out to town again. We'll grab a new bit, and we can maybe do some windowshopping along the way!"

(AN: yes I've used these things before. Really finicky when you're just learning to use them and you get ink all over the inside of your palm from accidental smudging.)

 

[That Lass Over There]

"Maybe I can get a new nib with a broad edge; those ones you can change the thickness of the stroke by changing the direction. Maybe with that kind of nib you can better replicate your logograms." Kuroi irrevocably damaging a part of her pen was going to cost a few coins and some time going out to town again, but maybe the two of them could get a little more out of the trip. Maybe some minor adventure before the year began?

"Come on, let's go out to town again. We'll grab a new bit, and we can maybe do some windowshopping along the way!"

Kuroi's concern over the damage she had done, and interest in the intricate mechanism, dulled as her focus that she had single-mindedly maintained to write waned and she became aware of a rare case of inattentiveness from herself - she had completely forgotten about the condition she was in, bearing with it on the walk back to the dorm so that she could have a place to rest. However, before her hazy mind could come up with a suitable reason for Kuroi to become the napping sort out of nowhere Xeria had put them up to this exchange of languages, bait that Kuroi easily was led to bite. Her initial flush after the hair-raising encounter they had made way for an even more pallid complexion than usual, and her body shivered as she realized how cold she felt.

In spite of the time that had passed and the poor attempts of Kuroi to hide her symptoms, Xeria still hadn't noticed... Kuroi had almost expected to be caught by now, oddly enough - it'd make this easier for her since she could honestly state what she needs. But the fledgling witch continued a stint of obliviousness that amazed her summon, even recommending another trip outside that Kuroi was quite certain she wouldn't be able to make.

"Actually, I'm a little tired after everything that's happened today, so I was considering a nap..." Kuroi tried to weasel her way out of the trip to the market with her words, thinking that it was a reasonable desire after both the revelation that she was not from this world and the meeting with a Dragon.

 

[Aron the Aron]

In spite of the time that had passed and the poor attempts of Kuroi to hide her symptoms, Xeria still hadn't noticed... Kuroi had almost expected to be caught by now, oddly enough - it'd make this easier for her since she could honestly state what she needs. But the fledgling witch continued a stint of obliviousness that amazed her summon, even recommending another trip outside that Kuroi was quite certain she wouldn't be able to make.

"Actually, I'm a little tired after everything that's happened today, so I was considering a nap..." Kuroi tried to weasel her way out of the trip to the market with her words, thinking that it was a reasonable desire after both the revelation that she was not from this world and the meeting with a Dragon.

"Hmm?" Xeria tilted her head when she turned around, having gone to fetch her shoes and coat to go outside once more. Where was this coming from; it was only the beginning seconds of the afternoon. Surely the Dragon encounter hadn't sapped so much out of her summon that she needed a nap, right? "Erm... It's not that far from the Academy... I can go by myself?" Now Xeria sounded less sure as she spun her heels and marched back up to the taller Japanese woman.

"Now that I think about it, you have been acting awfully weird just now. You aren't acting like you were yesterday or the night before." All of a sudden Xeria was in full-on "study mode" as she walked circles around Kuroi, doing a myriad of invasive things...

"Hmm... abnormally warm and flushed skin." ... like pressing her hand against her forehead...

"Hummm, you aren't reacting as quickly as before." ... or snapping her fingers in front of her face...

"Shivering?" ... and just generally being way too close.

Xeria continued pretending she knew what she was doing until she came to a rapid conclusion. "I got it; you must be very exhausted from seeing that Dragon back in the Archives! I'll go get a mug of water while you sit down for a bit!" And despite coming to the wrong conclusion again, Xeria whipped around and skittered out the door in search of some water... and maybe a snack or two.

 

[That Lass Over There]

Kuroi inched away from every contact made between them in Xeria's prodding, feeling a bit discomforted by the witch's almost-accurate observations that came from excessive investigation. Holding her body together was too much effort to react more than that to the white haired blur that pestered her with all sorts of odd and trivial tests. While at a point she had some level of desire to inform Xeria of her condition and try to obtain some help giving herself proper care, that urge had gone with the girl getting carried away on her own. Kuroi's eyes turned away from Xeria as a diagnosis was announced, yet another unusual behavior as the woman tended to maintain eye contact or at least look at Xeria when she was talking.

At some point, the storm passed, the fledgling witch leaving out the door on some business. Kuroi hadn't registered what was said very well, but her summoner's absence was notable after a minute of silence. A bit of a relief, too, as with the ignorant girl went her reason to hold back. Her body relaxed, in a way, as her shivering grew magnitudes worse and her face grew even paler without her efforts holding it back. Her eyes shut, too bleary to rely on, and she contemplated with what thought she could muster before slowly getting up and by memory guiding herself to Xeria's bed. On the way her hand sank into the bucket of water she had been cleaning with that morning, taking out the towel and squeezing it of what excess water she could before bringing it with her. Little of her typical elegance remained as she struggled to ease her legs under the covers blind, one hand occupied with a damp towel she tried to keep off the bedding and the other supporting her body.

Eventually with enough blind fumbling she managed to find her body under the chilling cold covers, telling herself that it would help as she laid the towel across her head. Whatever Xeria had gone to do, she hoped... That it would... take a while... for her to come back...

 

[Aron the Aron]

The King's Academy - Lionscourt Hall: Outside
Third day of Serpent, 493 NE
​

---

"Sorry! Sorry! Oops, I'll clean that up later; I promise!"

The thumping of leather shoes against stone and the clattering of miscellaneous objects were hard to ignore in Lionscourt Hall; Witch and Wizard alike were left bewildered when a tiny white-haired mountain of objects barreled by without missing a beat. It was the resident genius and weirdo of the Academy, and whatever it was she was doing seemed to be important to her. The hurried pace of her steps and the firm hold on her pile of junk suggested her being on one of her infamous states of singleminded focus.

Xeria had to be extremely careful about not dropping the stuff in her arms, under her coat, and in her hat as she ran back from raiding the Academy's kitchens for a bucket full of ice and water... and maybe some sweets that she might or might not have stolen on her way out. Kuroi could go for a pick-me-up after having been face-to-face with a literal Dragon, and sweets were always something that lifted Xeria's mood and energy when she needed it most. If it worked for her, then it had to work for Kuroi, right?

"Uwah! Careful! Coming through!"

The King's Academy - Lionscourt Hall: Inside
Third day of Serpent, 493 NE​

Comedy from seeing a minute girl wearing an oversized coat and hat stuffed to the brim with candy and carrying a massive bucket of ice water aside, Xeria had made sure to be careful once she was in the hall leading to her tiny room. She wanted to make sure that she surprised Kuroi with all the little candies and biscuits she clumsily stuffed into her pockets, so she had to absolutely make sure she didn't trip and fall outside her room!

"Kuroi! I'm back, and I brought some stuff from the pantries!"

"... Kuroi?"

"KuroI!!"

---

The King's Academy - Xeria's Room
Third day of Serpent, 493 NE
​

---

"Geez! You should've told me you were sick; I could've gone into the city and seen if there was any herbs or elixirs to help you!" Xeria grumbled, wringing the piece of dried luffa in her hand after giving it a thorough dunk in her water bucket.

The witch had been given quite a scare when she found Kuroi unconscious in her bed, and had feared for a good moment that she had died while she was gone. Thankfully, she was smart enough to get help, and was relieved to hear that it was something that she could treat with enough time and effort. Now, several hours later, she was doing her best to keep her Summon's fever manageable enough to eventually go away on its own. The mug of water sitting on her nightstand and the cooling wooden plate of cooked fish and vegetables were quick and easy enough, but when the apothecary suggested to Xeria that she give Kuroi a bath with lukewarm water...

Well, one awkward moment later, and now Xeria was spongebathing an almost-naked Kuroi in her bed. She had stopped at the underwear, not daring to go further lest she discover what kind of wrath her Summon was capable of, and the witch was doing her best not to stare too much as she ran a wet luffa and cloth over Kuroi's exposed skin.

"... I should probably extinguish some of these candles; make sure you aren't blinded when you wake up again..."

And so Xeria continued to slowly and gently care for her sick Summon, equally dreading and hoping for when she'd wake up....

 

[That Lass Over There]

'Treatable' was a pleasant reassurance to have, but it did nothing to lessen the severity of the fever that had gripped the summon, nor the other symptoms that progressively showed in her restless slumber. Intermittently she shook, mumbling incoherently, and occasionally spasming which calmed only slightly with the touch of Xeria's caretaking before resurging violently with mutterings of denial that quieted after a few minutes from exhaustion, giving way to ragged breath. In one of the calm periods, Xeria had taken on the challenge of spongebathing the unconscious patient... A more difficult task than anticipated, much of the soapy water splashing into the bedding rather than doing its duty with Xeria's clumsy, overly conscious hands. Her realization that she only needed the luffa damp - not sopping, as she initially had it - spared her bed some mess, but not nearly enough to spare it a joking title of water bed.

Much as the witch's nerves were set on edge, her summon did not wake in the bathing process, and thankfully did not go into another fit either... However, it failed to occur to Xeria that it might be a bad idea to keep a patient in a now sopping wet bed, or that she should perhaps re-clothe Kuroi now that the bathing was finished. Because of that, a little more than half an hour later when Xeria had started dozing off at the edge of the bed, she heard a few soft sneezes as the bed shifted with Kuroi slowly propping herself up to a sitting position, shivering. Her black eyes bleary as the only sign of tiredness on her unchanging face combed the room, Xeria, and herself, and she tilted her head to the side as she looked at Xeria. Whatever she was thinking was brushed aside, though, as she shifted to bowing her head to the fledgling witch. "I'm sorry for being an inconvenience. Thank you for taking care of me." Her hands laid folded on top of her lap, her disheveled hair falling over her shoulders as she inclined her head. Now that she was fully awake, the shivering stifled itself, and her complexion normalized a bit, though it took some endurance as she felt like every slight draft in the room was the cutting wind of a winter storm.

 

[Aron the Aron]

'Treatable' was a pleasant reassurance to have, but it did nothing to lessen the severity of the fever that had gripped the summon, nor the other symptoms that progressively showed in her restless slumber. Intermittently she shook, mumbling incoherently, and occasionally spasming which calmed only slightly with the touch of Xeria's caretaking before resurging violently with mutterings of denial that quieted after a few minutes from exhaustion, giving way to ragged breath. In one of the calm periods, Xeria had taken on the challenge of spongebathing the unconscious patient... A more difficult task than anticipated, much of the soapy water splashing into the bedding rather than doing its duty with Xeria's clumsy, overly conscious hands. Her realization that she only needed the luffa damp - not sopping, as she initially had it - spared her bed some mess, but not nearly enough to spare it a joking title of water bed.

Much as the witch's nerves were set on edge, her summon did not wake in the bathing process, and thankfully did not go into another fit either... However, it failed to occur to Xeria that it might be a bad idea to keep a patient in a now sopping wet bed, or that she should perhaps re-clothe Kuroi now that the bathing was finished. Because of that, a little more than half an hour later when Xeria had started dozing off at the edge of the bed, she heard a few soft sneezes as the bed shifted with Kuroi slowly propping herself up to a sitting position, shivering. Her black eyes bleary as the only sign of tiredness on her unchanging face combed the room, Xeria, and herself, and she tilted her head to the side as she looked at Xeria. Whatever she was thinking was brushed aside, though, as she shifted to bowing her head to the fledgling witch. "I'm sorry for being an inconvenience. Thank you for taking care of me." Her hands laid folded on top of her lap, her disheveled hair falling over her shoulders as she inclined her head. Now that she was fully awake, the shivering stifled itself, and her complexion normalized a bit, though it took some endurance as she felt like every slight draft in the room was the cutting wind of a winter storm.

The less said about Xeria's complete lack of knowledge on how to properly care for sick individuals, the better.

With it being the deadest hours of night, Xeria had blown out the majority of the candles she still had lit in her room just before Kuroi had awoken with a sneeze. Seeing the silhouette of her summon against the faint starlight coming from her windows did bring a huge amount of relief to the Witch, enough that whatever grogginess she had was immediately forgotten about as she shot up and tightly hugged her mostly-naked summon.

"You're okay! Thank the Saintess; you had me worried!" Every conscious thought that Xeria probably should've prioritized went out the window, the clamminess of Kuroi's still-wet skin and the water-soaked bed ignored in favor of just making sure she was okay... besides, Xeria was inadvertently acting as a towel with her nightdress, so it was only a matter of time before Xeria eventually dried her off by accident as well.

"You should've told me that you were sick! I could'a gone somewhere or seen someone to help you, you know!" She huffed, though the power of hindsight did take a lot of bite out of her upset tone. Xeria was aware that it was partially her fault for not picking up on the warning signs in time, but we're talking about someone who needs written invitations to get a clue. "We have plenty of apothecaries in Ambition City, and the Academy has one; it would've been easy to get some herbs and advice if I knew you were sick before. Why didn't you tell me?" Xeria pulled away to give a limp chop to Kuroi's head, which rapidly changed into her brushing her summon's bedhair with her fingers. She looked like an absolute wreck, and Xeria had likely exasperated the problem with her amateurish (if well-meaning) attempts at bedside care...

"Still... You're okay now, and that's all that matters right now."

... but those were problems Xeria could still take care of.

 

[That Lass Over There]

With it being the deadest hours of night, Xeria had blown out the majority of the candles she still had lit in her room just before Kuroi had awoken with a sneeze. Seeing the silhouette of her summon against the faint starlight coming from her windows did bring a huge amount of relief to the Witch, enough that whatever grogginess she had was immediately forgotten about as she shot up and tightly hugged her mostly-naked summon.

"You're okay! Thank the Saintess; you had me worried!" Every conscious thought that Xeria probably should've prioritized went out the window, the clamminess of Kuroi's still-wet skin and the water-soaked bed ignored in favor of just making sure she was okay... besides, Xeria was inadvertently acting as a towel with her nightdress, so it was only a matter of time before Xeria eventually dried her off by accident as well.

Seeing a blur of white in her vision Kuroi caught the charging witch before her sluggish brain could realize what happened, holding her loosely so that she did not slip out from the somewhat awkward angle and fall off the bed. She couldn't see very well with her vision blurred past its normal fuzziness, so it took a little adjusting to make sure she had everything exactly where she wanted. "Sorry."

"You should've told me that you were sick! I could'a gone somewhere or seen someone to help you, you know!" She huffed, though the power of hindsight did take a lot of bite out of her upset tone. Xeria was aware that it was partially her fault for not picking up on the warning signs in time, but we're talking about someone who needs written invitations to get a clue. "We have plenty of apothecaries in Ambition City, and the Academy has one; it would've been easy to get some herbs and advice if I knew you were sick before. Why didn't you tell me?" Xeria pulled away to give a limp chop to Kuroi's head, which rapidly changed into her brushing her summon's bedhair with her fingers. She looked like an absolute wreck, and Xeria had likely exasperated the problem with her amateurish (if well-meaning) attempts at bedside care...

"Still... You're okay now, and that's all that matters right now."

... but those were problems Xeria could still take care of.

"I'm sorry." Accepting the scolding, she apologized again as Xeria continued to reprimand her. She let Xeria pull away easily and weakly blinked in reaction to the chop delivered to her her head, not dodging or catching the hand as she let the witch do whatever. Or couldn't stop her, with the blank face of the summon it was difficult to tell what feelings lay behind her abyssal eyes. "I didn't know." Was all she responded with to Xeria's reasonable claims and question, looking down and to the right as she let the fledgling witch continue. Or, well, she meant to, but the rampage seemed to have tapered off with Xeria calming down, and Kuroi slowly drew her gaze back to observe Xeria from under the cover of some disheveled strands of black hair, looking for her expression and trying to read the unexpected mood. The overly dim light in the room cast deep shadows over both of them, and Kuroi's eyes and senses were struggling enough through the confusion without the further disadvantage.